Are
you supporting Skinner through these NO additional cost
fundraisers?

SUPPORT OUR SCHOOL and Share this with Family and
Friends!

Box
Tops/ Labels for Education

Collect
everyday labels from groceries to earn points and funds for our
school library

e-Scrip (Dominick's & other retailers)

Visit
www.escrip.com to designate your
eScrip accounts to Mark T. Skinner. A percentage of your
purchases go to the school. However, you must renew your e-Scrip annually.
Look out for special bonus days too!

Target

1% goes
to Skinner on ALL purchases made with Target Card
(additional 5% all purchases for you!)

Click here and go
to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's website to learn more about
the Money Smart Kid Essay Contest, which allows 5th-8th graders the
opportunity to win a $5,000 scholarship. All essays and
applications must be submitted to the Federal Reserve Bank by March
23, 2012.

This
year's essay question is: Give an example of when it
is wise to borrow money and when it is not. What factors do you need
to consider to help you make a responsible choice? Please be sure to
discuss the concepts of decision making and opportunity cost in your
answer.

~
Save The Date ~

On Friday, April 27th from 4:00 pm - 7:00 pm,
PTO/Forum will be sponsoring a Financial
Fitness Family Fun Night. Come get your questions
answered about how to save for college, how to get your Superstar on
the path to saving, and much more. Click hereto view more details about this upcoming event.

LOCAL
SCHOOL COUNCIL ELECTIONS

By law, Local School Councils (LSCs) play a role in
decision-making at the local school level. The primary
responsibilities of LSCs include approving how school funds and
resources are allocated, approving and monitoring the implemetation
of the annual school improvement plan, and hiring and evaluating the
school's contract principal.

Make a difference in your child's school, run for the
LSC. Candidate nomination forms, for the 2012 LSC Election, are due
3:00 PM, March 1st at the Office of LSC Relations, 125 South Clark
Street, 5th Floor, and 3:00 PM, March 8th at the school where you would
like to serve. Click herefor more details.

ART FOR SALE !

Congratulations to the following artists for winning
the Gallery 111 "HeARTS for the ARTS" contest:

Edward
M.

Dahlia
G.

Chloe
K.

Nell
H.

Fiona
L.C.

Ingrid
L.C.

Nikolette
W.

Ariane
O.

Tadzio
K.

Gabrielle
W.

Cards are available for purchase to raise funds for
the 2012 arts programming at Skinner West. Please keep in mind that
every classroom at Skinner will benefit this year from our
programming through field trips or in school artists residencies.

A pack of 10 cards are available for $12.00 and they
feature our winning artist's work. Please contact us at skinnergallery111@gmail.com
for purchasing cards. A check should be made to Gallery 111 & the
art cards can be picked up by your child in Ms. Bovit's art room.
Thank you to all the artists that participated. It was such a treat
to see their work hanging in our transformed gallery setting at
Skinner!

Dear Superstars and Parents,

The Skinner 2012 Chinese New Year Celebration was a big
success. Over 340 students and guests attended the event at
Furama restaurant on Jan. 25th. Sun Cast television station and
four major Chinese newspaper agencies attended our celebration
program and published our event on several local newspapers.
The celebration started with a dragon parade and the students singing
the Gong Xi Fa Cai song. Our Mandarin teacher Ms. Kong was the
MC for the event. She led 1st-4th grade students in a performance
where they danced and sang bilingual children's songs in English and
Chinese. The students received a warm applause from the entire
audience. The closing song was chosen from the 2008 Beijing Olympic
theme song "Beijing Welcomes You." Ms. Maatouk read
the lyrics in English first and the students sang in perfect Mandarin
with Ms. Kong. It was very evident that the students and parent
volunteers enjoy learning the Chinese language & culture at Skinner
West.

For photos and articles (in Chinese), please click on the links
below: